It is well known that heat is generated in an inflated rolling tire as the vehicle travels down the road due to the dissipation of energy within the viscoelastic materials from which the tire is made. The rate of energy dissipation within the tire materials, termed tire power loss, decreases as the tire temperature increases. Thus, the higher the temperature of the tire, the less the tire power loss.
The wheel which supports the inflated tire provides one of the major paths for the escape of heat from the tire to ambient. If the flow of heat from the tire to the wheel and from the wheel to ambient can be reduced, tire power loss will be decreased since the tire will run at a higher temperature.